The world heritage of gardens

The study of gardens and their history has made such enormous strides in recent years that there is now urgent need for a book summarizing our present knowledge in a reliable and attractive form. Dusan Ogrin, a renowned authority on the subject, has spent thirty years gathering material for this magisterial survey, which combines scholarship, detailed description and seductive photography.

The World Heritage of Gardens is divided into thirteen sections, beginning with ancient Egypt and proceeding via the European Middle Ages, Renaissance Italy, France, England, the Iberian peninsula, Germany and Eastern Europe to twentieth-century America. Parallel chapters treat China, Japan and the Islamic world.

In each case, a historical account is followed by descriptions of surviving examples which can be visited today, thus creating a comprehensive guide to gardens all over the world, many - such as those in Poland and Russia - little known in the West.

As restoration, research and publication unearth the great gardens of the past from the neglect of centuries, it is becoming clear that they represent a major part of cultural history. Professor Ogrin's book, with its 386 spectacular color pictures, offers delight for the eye and stimulation for the mind, as well as providing an essential work of reference for historians, landscape artists, horticulturalists and all lovers of the garden.